A Slight Detour
by BreakMyDreams
Summary: Chris dreamed of becoming a writer, Darren a musician but somehow they both ended up teaching high school instead.  AU, future CrissColfer, Darren and Lea as siblings, Chris and Cory as siblings.
1. Chapter 1

This wasn't quite what Chris had planned for himself, okay strike that, it wasn't even close to what he'd had planned for his life. His first love had been theater but he had given that up at the age of eighteen because there just weren't any roles out there for guys like him. He had hoped to become a writer after that, and that was still a plausible dream he guessed, but for now, he was stuck at this high school, teaching creative writing to a bunch of kids that would only be interested in the credit the class gave them, not the actual class.

"You can still write your book, Chris," Cory mussed his hair before he grabbed his keys and headed for the door, "This isn't the end of your dreams, it's just a detour."

"I know, I know," He grumbled, he pushed a hand through his hair to attempt to fix the damage done by his older brother and then pressed his glasses back up his nose, "You better go or else you'll be late to your session," He reminded.

"Okay, I'm gone," Cory called followed by the slam of their front door.

Chris let out an exasperated sigh as he looked over his lesson plan for the third time; at least Cory had made some progress towards his dream. He had finally managed to land a gig as a session drummer on the album of some big name artist that Chris had never heard. It seemed like everyone he knew had at least made progress towards their goals, while he on the other hand had only managed to get out of his hometown. If it weren't for Cory, he wouldn't have even managed that. There was no way he would have been able to afford an apartment in New York City on a first year teachers salary and the only other job offer he'd had was from his former high school. Cory had given up his apartment and part-time job in Los Angeles to move to NYC with him and Chris couldn't be more thankful that the move had worked out for his brother.

It was ten-thirty when Cory text messaged him to say that his session wasn't anywhere near over and not to wait up. Chris decided to call it a night then, made his way into his cramped bedroom, and began to sift through his closet for an outfit to wear the next day. He was limited on options; the school was a private one and required all of their staff dress business professional so he knew that his one and only suit would be worn. He laid out the black suit that his parents had purchased for his college graduation and pulled out the hanger that all four of his tie's were stored on; black, grey, navy, and red, not much to choose from. The next task was to select a shirt, his options were a little more varied there; white, black, navy, grey, red, light blue, and white and blue stripped.

He finally settled on the red tie and grey shirt, changed into his pajamas, washed his face, and turned out the lights. He stared at the wall for what seemed like hours, the dread had already begun to build. Sometime later, he heard the front door open and close and knew that his first day was officially screwed if Cory was home and he was still awake. His alarm went off as six am and Chris was sure that he'd only just shut his eyes but flicked his bedside lamp on with a groan anyways and began the final preparations for the day.

"You look dead on your feet," Chris jerked up right, he had just about face planted into his Caesar salad, "First day, huh," The most beautiful man Chris had ever seen was perched on the break room counter, "I'm Darren, by the way."

Darren was all toothy grin, scruffy face, golden eyes, and barely tamed curly hair and Chris cursed him and his tacky black suit and plaid shirt combo which literally rendered him speechless.

"Oh, C-Chris," He stammered as a deep blush bloomed across his cheeks at the realization that he had just openly stared at the other man for well over what would be considered a normal amount of time.

"Well hi there, Chris," Darren somehow managed an even bigger grin as he turned his attention to the coffee pot, "I think this might do you some good." He slid the cup across to Chris before he took the seat opposite of him, "Oh and behalf of all the teachers here, I'd like to welcome you to the staff, I promise the first day is always the worst, it'll get easier."

"How'd you know that it's my first day," Chris asked as he took a sip of the warm liquid.

Darren chuckled as he began to unpack his own lunch, "There are less than fifty teachers on staff here; we always know when we get a new one. You replaced Mrs. Anderson in the English department, this is your first teaching job, you graduated at the top of your class at USC, and you've got four sophomore creative writing classes and two junior AP literature classes," He rattled off, that stupidly sexy grin still plastered on his face.

"Wow," Chris said with a raised eyebrow, "I feel like I should check outside my bedroom window before I go to sleep now."

Darren laughed loudly at that, "Like I said, small staff, we tend to gossip. Plus, I've been the only male teacher here for three years now and may have gotten a little excited when I found out there would be another guy on staff. I pestered Principle Cooper until she gave up some info on you," He admitted.

"Wow," Chris repeated with a shake of his head, "Okay, it's time to reciprocate then, what do you teach," Chris asked as he picked over his salad.

Darren laughed again and Chris was already convinced that it was the best sound in the world, "That's fair, I've got two freshman Italian classes, two mixed Music Theory classes, and two senior Vocal Performance classes. My turn, how long have you lived in New York," He inquired as he inhaled his lunch at a speed Chris had previously thought impossible.

They went back and forth throughout the rest of their lunch. By the time Chris departed for his next class he knew that Darren's family was from New York but he'd actually been born in San Francisco, he lived with his sister, Lea, who was currently employed as an understudy on Broadway, and had an older brother that was in a band. He was also certain that he was in love with the curly haired cutie, which was bad, very bad, especially since Chris didn't have a clue whether the other man was gay or not. He did note that Darren never mentioned a girlfriend and Chris had shamefully checked for a ring when Darren was distracted and found none.

"See," Darren shouted with a clap to Chris's shoulder on the way out the door, "You made it through the first day alive, now it's just tomorrow and then the weekend," He smiled as he pushed a fantastically tacky pair of pink sunglasses on.

_Darren POV_

Darren felt a tiny bit of disappointment settle in his stomach when Chris yelled his goodbye and headed the opposite direction of him, he had stupidly hoped they might be headed the same direction. He hitched his bag a little higher up on his shoulder with a sigh and began the four-block trek back to his and Lea's apartment. Darren wasn't quite sure what to make of Chris just yet, he knew that he liked the guy, but this was a little different than what he was used to. This wasn't the usual 'let's be best friends' emotion, this was entirely different, it was something that up to this point, he had only felt in the presence of women.

He sorted and threw a load of laundry in the washer once he arrived home and then flopped himself down on the couch with the stack of surveys he had given his students in class that day. He always tried to get at least one piece of information from each student that would help him put a name with a face early in the year. There were a few familiar faces in his senior and mixed classes but overall, for such a small school, Darren was surprised at the number of new faces in his classes. He had flipped through and made notes on one class worth of surveys when the washer stopped and he took a break to put his clothes over and find a snack before he returned to the couch.

He lost track of time and suddenly he heard the sound of a key in the door, a signal that Lea was home already. He called out a greeting to her and returned to his papers.

"Okay, who is she," Lea demanded as she flopped down next to her brother.

Darren furrowed his brows in confusion, "What," He asked.

"You did laundry," She said incredulously, "The only times you ever do laundry are if you are completely out of clothes, which I know isn't the case because I just did two loads for you at the start of the week, or you met a girl and you want to dress up for her."

"There's no girl, Lea," It wasn't a lie, "Maybe I just wanted to do laundry," That was though.

Lea narrowed her eyes at him to let him know that she hadn't bought it, "No, that definitely isn't it and it isn't a new teacher, I would have heard-," She trailed off. She gasped suddenly, "DARREN," She yelled as she swatted him on the arm.

"What," He feigned innocence even though he knew that the jig was up.

"It is a new teacher, all you've talked about is how you couldn't wait to meet _him _for weeks now," Her eyes were still wide but there was a smile on her face now. Darren knew that he wouldn't have to worry about a negative reaction from her, "Are you sure," She asked after a moment, "I mean, you've never showed an interest in men before," She worried her lower lip between her teeth.

With a sigh, Darren set aside his papers and gave her the details she wanted, from what he felt to what his new crush had eaten for lunch to those damn glasses that Chris had constantly pushed up the bridge of his nose throughout lunch.

Lea pressed a kiss to her brothers cheek when he was finished, "I love you no matter what, you know," She said, "I just want you to be sure."

He nodded to show that he understood and watched as she rushed off to get ready for another night out with her best friend Dianna. He managed to get through a few more surveys before he finally had to give up; his mind was far away from the papers anyway. Darren knew that his sister was right; he had to be absolutely sure about what he felt. There were also other issues, he wasn't even sure what the schools policy was on teacher relationships, he'd never felt the need to look it up. The school always seemed to hire women in their mid to late forties who were married and typically a little on the grumpy side. For now, he decided, he would be a friend to Chris, get to know him and see where it goes from there. He did not want to play with the younger man's emotions just because he was sexually confused.

"Any big weekend plans," Darren asked the next day as he leaned against the door to Chris's classroom.

Chris looked up, startled at the sound of his voice and, God, Darren felt like some kind of psycho stalker now. He hadn't actually intended to seek him out but when Chris hadn't shown up in the break room he wasn't able to help himself.

"Oh, no, no plans," Chris's face crinkled up in a look that Darren wouldn't quite describe as disgust but was almost there, "You really like plaid don't you," He asked.

Darren laughed and felt his cheeks grow warm; he hadn't even realized he'd worn plaid the previous day. His smile grew even bigger when it hit him that Chris actually remembered what he had worn yesterday.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I do," Darren spoke, as he subtly looked Chris over.

The other man either owned multiple black suits or he only owned one. Either way, it looked good paired with a navy button down and black tie. Chris's cheeks were stained a deep shade of red when Darren's gave finally returned from his once over and he realized he probably hadn't been as subtle as he'd hoped.

"I'm surprised they're okay with a plaid suit," Chris muttered, his gaze fixed on Darren's face as he made his way into the room and perched himself on Chris's desk. "Principle Cooper seemed rather," He trailed off as he searched for the right word, "Strict when she went over it with me."

"Eh, she tends to come off that way but I honestly don't think she cares as long as it's a suit," Darren chanced a look at Chris's desk. He didn't notice any personal effects or pictures like most of the other teachers had, "However, I will warn you, sport coats and blazers will get your ass chewed," He said mournfully, "I found that out the hard way."

Chris deflated slightly at that, "Well, I just added clothes shopping to my weekend plans then," He sighed as he nibbled at the cap on his pen.

They talked until the bell rang, a signal that lunch had ended, and Darren departed after he had wished Chris a good weekend.

"That went well," He murmured as he exited that classroom, "Creepy stalkerness aside."

He sighed deeply as he made his way across the school and realized that his hands had begun to shake at some point in the exchange. It was official, Chris Colfer had gotten under Darren's skin and he did not mind one bit.


	2. Chapter 2

"Why are you suddenly so interested in the mall," Lea asked with a raised eyebrow as her brother attempted to coerce her into an afternoon out.

Darren sighed dramatically, "We barely spend any time together anymore," He lied through his teeth, "You like to shop so I thought we could go together."

Okay, so he actually was just on the brink of full-fledged stalkerdom and wanted to see if he could accidently run into Chris since Darren knew he would be out to look for a new suit this weekend but Lea didn't need to know that.

"As sweet, and unbelievable," She added pointedly while she ruffled his hair," As that is, I already have plans to get lunch and a pedicure with Dianna. Plus, all you've talked about for weeks is how you need to work on your music."

Darren rolled his eyes; he was caught unless he wanted to tell her what he really wanted to go to the mall for. He attempted to formulate a response but Lea, as usual, was one-step ahead of him.

"You need to lay off a little Darren," Lea called from her bedroom, "If you show up at the mall today and he's there it will be obvious you are stalking him." Damn, she was good. "You don't want him to transfer schools before a full week has even passed."

She was right; he _hated_ it when she was right. "Fine, I'll work on my music."

"Good boy," Lea cooed at him when she reentered the room, "And we can get lunch together tomorrow if you were serious about not seeing enough of your big sister."

"You're barely eighteen months older than me," He called after her as she left the room with an over the shoulder wave.

"Either way, it's still eighteen months."

The front door shut and Darren picked up his guitar, he really did need to work on his music if he ever wanted to be able to quit his job at the high school. He hadn't written any new material on over a month and hadn't played a gig in two weeks, he didn't want to get rusty so he focused his attention on the half written piece of music in front of him rather than the idea that Chris was possibly only two blocks away at the mall.

_Chris POV_

"$500," Chris nearly shouted, "Grant, why in the hell did you drag me in here, I can't afford any of this crap," His eyes widen comically as he looked at the price tags on several different jackets.

"I work here," Grant reminded him as he flicked his friend's ear and laughed when the other man flinched, "Therefore, you get a 25% discount. Also, we aren't here to look at this, we are here to look at the suits that just went on sale."

"Why can't we just go to Target," Chris moaned as Grant led the way to the sale rack, "Or JCPenney."

"Chris," Grant sighed, "You are a single gay man in New York City, it's about time you started to dress like one. Now here, go try this on," He turned to hand off a navy blue suit to his friend but found his attention elsewhere. "Okay, I really didn't take you for one to wear plaid suits," He trailed off when he saw what Chris had begun to look at.

Chris giggled a little as a pale blush crept up his neck, "I'm not, it's just, that guy I work with, he wore this exact suit the other day. I kind of picked on him for it," Chris trailed off, "It's just funny to see it out on a manikin now."

Grant stared at the other man before a smile broke out on his face, "I smell a crush," He sing-songed.

"No," Chris replied a little too quickly, "No, I mean, I don't think he's even gay."

"Oh Chris, if he wore that suit, odds are that he is gay," Grant grinned as he finally pulled Chris away from the display, "Now come on, try this one on and tell me all about him."

In the end, Chris bought the navy blue suit as well as a dark grey one, even though the price of them made him cringe throughout the rest of the weekend. The only items he truly was happy about were the four new ties he picked up at $5 apiece.

"Chris, come on," Cory called around noon on Sunday, "If I have to hear you grumble about how those suits cost as much as half your rent one more time I will scream."

Chris padded out into the living room and eyed his brother wearily, "What exactly do you suggest we do then to get my mind off the fact that it will take me months to pay for those damn suits."

Cory rolled his eyes, "Well, I got paid for the session I did the other night and if you promise not to talk about those suits again, I'll treat you to lunch at that place you've gone on about ever since you got here."

Chris's jaw dropped, Principal Cooper had treated him to lunch when Chris had come out to interview. He knew that the place was absurdly expensive but it was so good. He reminded Cory of the price several times, but his brother was insistent that he could cover it and thirty minutes later Chris had zipped his lips about the suits and they were on their way to lunch.

_Darren POV_

"Oh God, look at that cutie," Lea squealed.

Darren rolled his eyes but glanced towards the door anyways before he promptly tried to crawl underneath their table, "That's him, Lea, that's Chris," He cried.

"What, Darren, wait," She paused and finally seemed to notice the shorter but still breathtakingly handsome man with the one she had noticed first, "Oh," She squeaked out, "Oh, Darren, he is adorable."

"Who is that he's with," Lea questioned as the hostess led them to a table just a short distance away, "And will you please get out from under the table, I don't want people to think that I'm talking to myself."

Darren righted himself in his chair and resisted the urge to hide behind the nearest menu, "I don't know who it is Lea," He hadn't gotten a good look, he'd seen Chris and immediately hit the deck, and he certainly didn't want to chance a look now and get caught. "It might be his brother, he said he had a brother that was freakishly tall," Darren put his hopes on brother because if it wasn't, that left friend or boyfriend.

Darren sat stock-still and tried his best not to call any attention to himself; he ordered in a near whisper and thought that he might be able to make it through the meal unnoticed until his bladder decided that he had had enough orange juice. The restroom was thankfully close by but not in direct sight of Chris's table so he made a run for it. When he returned to the table Lea was no longer there though, in her place sat Chris.

"Wow," Chris murmured as a deep blush stained his cheeks, "Some beautiful girl comes and asks me to switch lunch partners with her and look who her brother turns out to be."

"Oh God, she didn't," Darren groaned in embarrassment, "I am so sorry Chris."

"She barely got two words out before Cory literally kicked me out of my chair," Chris shook his head as he laughed.

An awkward silence fell over them and Darren felt a need to fill it. It was mostly small talk; they went back and forth from a discussion about school and feeble attempts to spy on Cory and Lea, who seemed to have hit it off rather well. The tension finally broke when their meals were delivered and they found that they had unknowingly ordered the same dish. The conversation flowed easily after that until both meals had been finished and Cory and Lea finally forced them from the restaurant. Darren had been home for several hours when his phone buzzed with a new text message from an unknown number.

'It seems that our siblings exchanged numbers on our behalf, I hope you don't mind that I went ahead and put you into my contacts , Chris.'

Okay, maybe his 'big' sister wasn't as bad as he tried to make her out to be.


End file.
